The Flyway – A Time for Change
When I look back over the last 5 years my brain is flooded with amazing moments: memories made amongst a spectacular sisterhood. My time at Oiselle has definitely changed me. Being surrounded by amazing, strong and capable women day in and day out has a profound affect on the person that you are. I would say all the amazing women I have met through Oiselle have made me a stronger woman myself; giving more confidence to the person that I am. In the last five years I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked away from a conversation with a Volée or Haute Volée team member and been completely touched by their strength and their integrity of character. Along with that I was also amazed by how this community welcomes and wraps its arms around its fellow runners. Women brought together by one common thing; running.
At the end of the spring I was presented with an opportunity to coach high school cross-country again. Something I hadn’t done in seven years but something that still tugged at my soul. When presented with the opportunity I knew that I just had to take the plunge. With this plunge came change; change of my existing routine, change of my daughter’s schedule, and change with my role at Oiselle. As we know, change can be uncomfortable because of the uncertainty of how it will all work out. How did I know I was doing the right thing for myself despite feeling uncomfortable in the beginning? I knew because with each day I went to practice there came a feeling of overwhelming joy. The joy of being out there running with my athletes. Coaching them and trying to instill confidence in them with each workout and with each race and enjoying that process each day.
As I got more into my new routine and thought about how I operate I also came to terms with the fact that I needed to make an even bigger change. To step away from my role at Oiselle as team manager to see where this new path would take me… I too wanted to throw myself willingly into the valley of discomfort: not knowing 100% where this next path would take me.
After several weeks of not being at Oiselle what I miss the most is the daily conversation with the women that I have come to know and love but what I also know is that those friendships will continue and be a part of my life no matter where I go or what I do.
Running has been a huge part of my life for 20 years. Starting off as a high school track runner, then a college runner, to a coach, to an employee at Oiselle. It has been a constant in my life and I can’t wait to see how running through these new changes will bring new adventures my way. I hope to show many young runners how running can be their constant – their vehicle through change because as life gets uncomfortable running is always there for you no matter what…all you have to do is strap on the shoes and open the door and you never know what will come your way.
Thank you Oiselle for giving me wings to fly onward!
Boy, The Holidays Are Rough
Harry: “Boy, the holidays are rough. Every year I just try to get from the day before Thanksgiving to the day after New Year’s.”
Sally: “A lot of suicides.”
If you’re as old as I am, you might remember that little gem from the movie When Harry Met Sally. I watched that movie with my then-best friend at roughly age 14, and we laughed hysterically and pretended like we understood all of the funny sex references, which we most decidedly did NOT. Nevertheless, we’re still best friends, probably because we still don’t understand all of the sex references. But this blog post isn’t about sex, sadly (maybe the next one will be!), it’s about the holidays. Let me be very inclusive here: I am referring to the holidays however you celebrate them. Christmas, Hanukkah, Chanukah with the other spelling, Kwanzaa, New Year’s Eve, Thanksgiving, Canadian Thanksgiving… all of it.
I asked my friend Sarah to help me with ideas for this little post, because she’s a freelance writer who actually makes her living at it (sort of, as long as she buys the cheap liquor and marries rich). I told her that my task was to write an article about how to survive the holidays, and she responded in a really cool way: “What’s to survive? What’s bad about the holidays?” Then she turned the question around and asked me what is good about the holidays, and I, ever the romantic sucker, responded “Both literal and figurative warmth. There is always a fire in the fireplace and most of the homes I go to actually turn on their heat, as opposed to me, because I’m cheap. And everywhere you go you’re greeted by people happy to see you.” She responded with, “Hmmm. I don’t think there’s a story there.” I should have said, “Presents,” because that’s what I really meant: I just didn’t think it was what she was looking for. Then she said that she’s in no position to posit, because the last holiday party she went to was the one my then-husband and I threw eight years ago, at which point I politely pointed out that it was actually fourteen years ago. But who’s counting? So, anyway, then Sarah asked if I knew where to purchase one of those gloves that you can put on that’s actually a dog brush, so that you can pet your dog and brush your dog at the same time, and since she doesn’t have a dog, I decided to end the conversation there, because we were about to get into weird territory, not that I’m opposed to that. But I had to focus. [As an aside, that party was super memorable because at the time we owned a paraplegic and incontinent Husky. Right when we were hoping that guests would leave, she waltzed (as much as a paraplegic dog can “waltz”—use your imagination and think attitude, not physically) into the middle of the living room, the I’m-not-lying-to-you-white-carpeted living room, and took a crap. And GUESTS STAYED! Man, we must have had a huge supply of alcohol. And, to be honest, we were also a very charismatic couple. And that incontinent dog was cray adorbs, as the kids these days would say.]
So I’m going to do what I always resort to doing when I have to produce something, anything, in written form: I’m going to use a lot of colons and I’m going to write a list.
THE SEVEN TO TEN COMMANDMENTS, AS MANY AS I CAN COME UP WITH, AS PRESENTED IN DO VS. DON’T FASHION, FOR “SURVIVING”/THRIVING THE HOLIDAYS: RUNNER-STYLE!
Let’s start with the “don’ts” just in case you decide to stop reading early—I need to stop you from these faux pas’s’s before it’s too late. You’re welcome.
1. DON’T ask your hosts if the water is gluten-free.
Friends and fellow runners, I’m not discounting your special dietary restrictions. Go ahead and have them, and embrace them, as I do my reliance on the nutrients jam-packed into Red Bull and Skittles. But you see, I don’t make that your problem. To wit: I don’t ask you to take out the green Skittles because they used to be lime-flavored and now they’re green apple, and while the apple flavor alone is fine, it no longer melds well with the “rainbow of fruit flavors” offered by the other four flavors. I don’t make this mistake for the reason that I am socially tuned-in, so I bring my own green apple-sorted-out Ziplocs of Skittles. I hide the green ones in your house plants, feed them to your paraplegic pets (if you’re cool enough to have them) and/or put them in your prescription medication bottles in the cabinets of your bathroom, which you full-well know I and every other guest snoops into.
Gluten is an ingredient or enzyme or component or precursor or branch-chain-amino-acid form/part of wheat, and thus it cannot be in your water supply, unless you’re from Detroit, in which case I will give you a free pass to ask your hosts about the water. It could be in your beer, it will be in your pigs-in-a-blanket appetizers (and any party worth its salt will have pigs-in-a-blanket), but it cannot be in your water. So don’t ask. As a fun alternative, however, just pretend like you felt compelled to bring your own “water,” and put that water in a container commonly referred to as a flask, and then go ahead and put whatever the hell you want in there to make the party more interesting, especially if it’s a work party or a gathering at your in-laws.
2. DON’T bring your foam roller and roll yourself in the middle of the main party-room.
If you’re a chick, and most of you reading this Oiselle blog will be, you’ll likely be wearing a dress/skirt at the party (at least you should be—I’m willing to bet that you have really great legs), and foam rollers and short skirts/dresses don’t go that well together in polite company. And yes, I did say “polite” company, so therein lies your loophole, should you choose to utilize it. I’ll leave it at that.
On second thought, I’m never satisfied to “leave it at that.” The second loophole is that it’s okay to be the second person to do this so long as someone else starts it. Everyone rolling around on the floor together is the definition of either a post-workout pre-hab session or the definition of an O-R-letter after F-Y. Only you know the difference, and only you control the outcome. Merry Christmas.
3. DON’T you dare tell anyone that Santa isn’t real.
You know, this one isn’t in any way limited to runners or to parties. Just don’t be an asshole, and leave the magic of the season to those who still possess the capacity to believe in and create magic. Just because you’re green Skittle-averse/intolerant doesn’t mean that you have to ruin it for everyone else. And besides, if you try to expose some sort of conspiracy theory about Santa being make-believe, you’re likely to get your skinny-ass beaten up by Santa, or at least by one of his reindeer.
NOW FOR THE TO DO LIST:
4. DO bring a host/hostess gift.
Choosing the perfect hostess/host gift will follow in a subsequent blog post, to be released sometime next month when I recover from writing this one and from my foam rolling party, fueled by straight-gluten shots. Stay tuned! Oh, the excitement (or tension/apprehension/potential lawsuit) is mounting….
5. DO challenge your entire family/party guests to some sort of bizarre physical challenge.
A few years ago my mother read some odd statistic that claimed that only 33% or something of adults over the age of 60 can get up off of the floor without using their hands. I would have LOVED to have been the researcher to come up with this hypothesis, write the grant, be granted the grant money, and conduct the study. What a hoot. So I did the next best thing and challenged all of the elderly in my family to this very task. My dad, a former Division I gymnast, had to get all athletic-y on the crowd and show off by doing some snazzy pop-and-lock breakdance move—I have to grudgingly admit that it was pretty badass given that he was 71 at the time. He nailed that move. My mother, using her wits instead of her athleticism, asked for further definition of “under your own devices” and asked if she could use furniture, pets, other family members, etcetera to get up, all the while understanding that her own hands were off-limits. She, too, came up with a creative approach and nailed the challenge. I decided that there should be additional rules stipulating that the younger you are, the fewer parts of your body you can use. I was limited to my chin and the toes of my left foot, and those under twelve were pretty much left with straight-up levitation.
Another year, when I was a wee lass of about ten, my brother, then about fourteen, decided that he was getting to be pretty tough and challenged me to hit him as hard as I could in the stomach. It was Christmas Eve, right before our big family holiday meal. He was so pompous and arrogant and really thought that his little sister could not possibly hurt him. So I reeled back with all of my probably fifty-pound-might and socked him real good, right in the gut. He tried to keep his expression stony, but we all noticed that he was unable to eat anything at the meal—nothing at all. The next year I decided that it was my turn to suffer, so I asked him to drop a baseball from increasing heights above my prone body onto my stomach. I protected my eleven-year-old lady parts with the C volume of the World Book Encyclopedias that we had been given the year before, and I’ll be darned if my brother didn’t get that baseball to drop all of the way from the second story.
I will leave you with a warning: the Incredible Hulk Glove Catastrophe of 2006 provided all of us with a very valuable lesson that grandpas should not be punching their six-year-old granddaughters, even if those gloves do seem really foamy and soft. So do boxing gloves, and those can bring down full-grown professional athletes. Fill in the gaps of the story yourself (little Em is “okay,” and lasting effects from the traumatic brain injury are yet to be determined).
6. DO perpetuate false notions about the nature of running in general and your own running in particular.
You know, this is far more fun than continually fielding the same questions and defending yourself against the same accusations. Try these responses instead:
Come to think of it… my knees ARE shot. My uterus IS an unhospitable environment. I DO suffer from self-hatred. I haven’t eaten a donut in over fifteen years. I am running away from responsibility and toward fulfillment in a way that will never bring me true peace or happiness.
When I first started running cross country, my grandmother (and she was wicked tough, by the way, shoveling her own snow and mowing her own lawn until the day she died at age 92) asked me to describe the sport to her. I was a high schooler in the early-90’s in Iowa, and our races were only two miles. She responded in the following manner: “Two miles? Without stopping? Don’t you get out of breath?” I assured her that yes, stopping was generally frowned upon, and that also yes, I did indeed get incredibly out of breath. She encouraged me to instead join the glee club and then started muttering about when jeans would go out of style, because they have no place on anyone but laborers, and certainly not on women or even on men outside of the fields. And then she also started complaining about what an embarrassment it was to the family that I was so scrawny and that I was such a picky eater…. So just let people think what they want—it’s not your responsibility to allay any misconceptions. And let’s be honest with ourselves: some of them are true. My knees are kinda shot.
7. DO plan your training to coincide with events that you wanted to get out of, anyway.
No one knows that your 20-miler was actually scheduled for Saturday morning and not for Wednesday evening, so go ahead and say that you have a very important workout to accomplish and will, sadly, not be able to attend the White Elephant Gift Party or Charity Ball or Cookie Contest. Be careful with this tactic, though, because not everyone (meaning hardly anyone) will accept this as a valid excuse to miss a holiday event. (It’s for the children! It’s for CHARITY!! It’s family, for the love!) And even you know that it’s a little weak to try to get out of your niece’s Winter Choral Concert Extravaganza because you’re doing a very important, key workout! And if you do miss an event, be sure to make that workout count. And buy your niece a puppy to make up for your rudeness—everyone loves a puppy at the holidays, anyway.
8. DO lighten up, already.
One of my first reactions when I see an actual article about “How to Be an Athlete, Above All Else, During the Holiday Season, When All of Your Not-Nearly-As-Impressive-As-You-Are-Friends-and-Family Are Gluttonously Stuffing Figgy Puddings into Their Faces and Getting Festively Tipsy,” is this—give it a rest. Everyone celebrates differently. If your idea of a great time is to do your 20-miler outside on the county roads of Iowa in ten degree weather and driving snow alongside the harvested cornfields, then do it—but don’t force others to hear all about it. Just run, and then enjoy the company of your family afterwards. Don’t do your sit-ups while watching Chevy Chase’s Christmas Vacation. Just watch it. Do sit-ups in the privacy of your own bedroom, where this sort of activity belongs. Take yourself a little less seriously, because that’s what the holidays are actually all about. Not you and your constant striving. You do you, but have some fun, too. The holidays are about gifts… and family, and awe and wonder and whatever higher power you celebrate, even if that higher power is pie. So celebrate. Enjoy. Laugh.
If you can’t laugh at yourself, who can laugh at you? And you should allow others the opportunity to laugh at you, because your behavior is likely ridiculous, and you don’t want to deny your friends the opportunity to laugh directly at you, in your presence. This holiday season, give others the gift of your weirdness, and gladly receive the gift of theirs. We’re all just floating around on this planet, bumping into one another and then deciding if the collision was a fortunate or unfortunate occurrence. Make your collisions positive—make them count. Collide with people really hard, is what I’m saying.
Bad eggnog… that’s something to survive. The holidays? Pure wonderment. What’s not to like about a paraplegic dog taking a crap on the white carpet in the middle of your holiday party or your brother dropping a baseball on your stomach from the balcony? How about setting an intention, a mantra, for the holidays:
Make the holidays great again, Americans and fellow runners! When they go low, OISELLE FLIES HIGH!
Happy holidays, you crazy birdies.
JC
The Tenacious Ten: Dreams Come True!
Oiselle has been dreaming of putting on a road race for at least four years. So when our friends at Snohomish Running Company wanted to collaborate on a 10K/10M spring race, jubilation ensued!
We are thrilled to announce that on Earth Day, 2017 (Saturday, April 22nd), the Tenacious Ten will take over iconic Gas Works Park in Seattle. We will be featuring both 10 mile and 10K distances around Lake Union for all levels and types of runners (yep, dudes too!), as well as a kids 1K.
For November (the first month), race registration will only be available in our Oiselle Store at University Village. If you can’t get to in-store registration during November, please enter your email at the link below to be the first to receive online registration info. Seattle destination race alert: get in here and get tenacious with us!
Since day one, Oiselle has been about running and racing. So to have the chance to sponsor a premiere race in our hometown is incredibly exciting. And we like to think a "tenacious" themed event is perfect for Seattle. We are a hearty, outdoorsy, fun and fierce community. The race will welcome everyone, every pace, getting tenacious from start to finish.
- Sally Bergesen, Oiselle Founder and CEO
Sign-up for the Tenacious Ten in one of two places:
- The Oiselle Store: Tenacious Ten registration will be offered at our Flagship Store in University Village.
- Online: online registration for the Tenacious Ten is now open! Register here.
Time To Woman Up
Hold your head up. Be fierce. Put on your shoes and your hat and run in the downpour. Get your body onto that starting line. Stare a horrible situation in the face, and go straight toward it. Joy and suffering are universal stories. Share them: it helps decrease isolation and loneliness. Acknowledge fear and move forward anyway. WOMAN UP.
Support all the women. Be conscious that everyone is fighting a battle. Grant others the benefit of the doubt. Celebrate and promote others' successes. Running (and life) is not a zero-sum sport. The feel-good moments don't come every day. When they do, take the time to fully bask in them. Revel in others' victories, and support others during their struggles. WOMAN UP.
XO
NYC Marathon Recap with Lesko
New York and I have a complicated relationship. In 1997, I lived in Manhattan for 6 months. My two oldest boys were 2 years and 3 weeks old, respectively, when we moved there. It was a hard time for me. I took a 6 month leave of absence from medical school while my husband did job training (long hours). My one goal every day was to leave our corporate housing apt (on the 47th floor of the City Spire). Most days this involved roaming around Central Park, stopping at the same Upper West deli for a 7 layer bar which I tried to scarf down while hiding it from my 2 year old. “Mommy, you eating chock-late?” There is no equalizer like a 2 year old. Mine was very social with fluffy hair, and had no qualms about asking strangers for food at the park. “Share?” This is how I met Paul Simon, Faith Prince, John Gallagher, and Liam Neeson. I made a few mommy friends, but mostly I remember feeling alone and invisible. This was during my 17 years of no running, and I felt tired and powerless.
Since then, I’ve been laying down 19 years of NY memories that overwrite that time. Many involve the electrifying women of Oiselle. A physical place can evoke so many contradictory feelings.
Nolcha NYFW in 2013 and 2014.
NYRR Dash to the Finish and Sally’s marathon in 2013.
And now, 2016.
Our stay had an inauspicious start. On the way to check in to our Airbnb I got a text, “say you are friends with ____ because the building doesn’t allow us to rent.” When we got there, the elevator fobs on our key chains did not work…and we were told they wouldn’t be updated. “We are on to you.” Oh man. After some uncomfortable encounters, we all agreed to a truce for the weekend. But each time any one of us arrived we had to secretively nod to one friendly concierge who would quietly let us in to the elevator. Squatters!
Then we got to hear Lauren and Ro’s “talk” (in parentheses because Ro lost her voice and had to whisper into LF’s ear to communicate!). It was really cool to see racers connecting with the Compete journal ideas, balancing excitement with pressure.
Friday’s Volée run with LF was Central Park magic: the awesome women, the weather, the beauty, and peeps of Kim Conley and Molly Huddle doing shakeouts.
Dinner at Whole Foods. Whoa!! Mad body crush of women, men, toddlers, babies, and many many Volée friends!
We had scored tickets to Hamilton and convinced Sally she had to come with us. Sally and my 3 boys went in…and then the 2 tickets for my husband and I wouldn’t scan! After 15 minutes on the phone with Stub Hub, we had to resign ourselves to a refund and 3 hours coffee-shop hopping near Times Square. So sad it was funny. All reports were that it was amazing. Hamilton, I’m coming back for you!
Saturday morning: another stunning day. Steph’s great Dash to Finish and Volée squad, Oiselle Team Indy Monumental takeover, and then coffee with Kara and poster making. Thankfully, Julia Bez brought some pre-lettered signs…my free-drawing of the Oiselle logo rendered our bird pretty sickly!
Sunday morning, we got harnessed and ready. We set up camp at 100th and 1st, and the 2 NYPD smiled at me as I gave away all of the cowbells—in about 15 minutes! (They politely declined one themselves). Then the lead car, the lead women, Molly, Mac, and all of a sudden there were hordes of runners. We got in a funny little dance of moving out into the street closer to the runners, then being pushed back like the tide. I scored an awesome hug with Kelly Roberts when she spied us. We tried to yell out the names of as many people as we could read. Runners hear their own name, look, and smile. Instant connection.
And now the promise of unknown future NY experiences. All of these layers of time on the same place. Nothing is permanent. Enjoy the good moments. Thank you to my family, and my Oiselle and Volée family.
New motto: be brave, get ugly!
The Flyway - Routine Changes Everything
I recently realized that I was being dishonest when I said I thrive on change.
I mean, I came by my dishonesty honestly… in some areas of my life, it appears change is my addiction. And being the CEO of Oiselle is my drug of choice.
Especially in the start-up phase, my appetite for change and learning new things was off the hook, and I was constantly seeking to master new skills: product development, forecasting, logistics, events, sourcing, factory vetting and visits. Along the way, I took huge, change-driven risks. I leveraged my house, raised capital, hired and fired, shlepped a bajillion boxes (including when our warehouse was on the second floor of a building with no elevator), selected suppliers, sourced partners, negotiated rates and terms, moved office locations, opened a retail store, and grew The Nest from a team of three to thirty people.
But recently, I took a moment to think hard about all that change, and what was under the hood for me personally. What I realized, and what kind of surprised me, is that I also have an almost obsessive fixation on routine. In fact, there are things I do every day, and have done every day, for more than twenty years. Twenty. Years. For a self-described change lover, that’s pretty mind blowing.
Every day I…
- Read a paper newspaper. We get the Seattle Times (for the hubs) and the New York Times (for me). The way mobile technology is going, we’re going to be that old couple down the street that still gets the paper newspaper. Ermagerd! the kids will all say.
- Start the day with the exact same breakfast: drip coffee with half and half and two slices of whole grain bread with butter and either jam, honey, or egregiously expensive Frog Hollow Meyer’s Lemon Marmalade. Buy some and thank me later.
- Buy a second cup of coffee on my way to work from Starbucks: Grande Pike Place drip with enough half and half to make it a good khaki color.
- I run. Well, almost every day.
- I floss
During that same time frame, I've lived in the same neighborhood, opted to stay married to my righteous hubs, rarely changed cars, resent having to buy any kind of new household appliance, and only had the nerve to get my first tattoo earlier this year.
So do I love crazy, dynamic, entrepreneurial, fast-growth change? Yes.
Do I also love consistency, routine, and sameness? Yes.
Do these things not only fuel each other, but potentially allow the other to exist? I believe so.
And so it is with humility that I say my greatest achievement might not be daring greatly, but rather committing daily.
“Go fast, take chances” has long been our company mantra. But for me, maybe it’s “go fast, take chances - but only after you sleep in your own bed, have coffee, read the newspaper, and go on a long run with friends.” It's a good life, I'll take it!
Fast Kate's 8 Step Activation Series
If you are doing a workout, do these activation exercises first! This routine takes five minutes and it makes all the difference. We start out with focused exercises that activate and mobilize key running areas (back and core, glutes, feet, and calves). The motions get bigger and more functional throughout with walking and lunging. The skips at the end are the transition to running movement. Each exercise is 30 seconds in length.
- Cat Cow - This exercise is all about the synchronization of breath and movement. Start in table position, with hands under shoulders and knees and feet hip width apart. On inhale, soften the belly towards the floor. On exhale, draw the belly button in and round the back.
- Glute Bridges - Bend your knees and position your feet flat on the ground, hip width apart. Then drive your heels and upper back to lift your glutes off the ground. Drive your hips up as high as possible and squeeze your glutes for 2-3 seconds and lower back to the ground.
- Toe Yoga -Focus on pushing the big toe into the ground while lifting the four other toes. Release and repeat for 30 seconds. This activates the muscles and tendons in the foot/arch/ankle.
- Ankle Rotation -Stand straight and upright, raise one foot off the ground and rotate the raised foot and ankle slowly in different directions.
- Toy Soldiers - Keep your head tall as you gently pull your knee to your chest and foot to your glutes.
- Lunge Sequence - Lunge to the front, lunge to the side, to the other side, and then lunge to the back. Six reps of each lunge. For the back lunge, stand tall, and initiate the backward movement by first bending your knee to 90 degrees, then activating your glute/hamstring to push your foot back as far as possible before touching the ground.
- Curtsy - Heal to ground in front of you, bend the back leg and keep the front leg straight, bend to sweep the ground alongside your ankles. Keep back as straight as possible as you bend. You should feel this along the back of your leg. Flex back your foot more to feel more in the calf, straighten lower back more to feel more in the glute/hammy
- Karaoke - Shuffle side to side, karaoke side to side, twist upper body in the opposite direction as hips for spine mobility.
When you complete this routine, you’ll be primed and ready to run.
XO
Spark in the Dark
It’s that time of year again. Shorter days and longer nights. The snooze button on our alarm clock is way easier to find. Together, we collectively take a big sleepy autumn yawn. But hold up! There are miles to go before we sleep. And running promises we said we would keep.
We’ve heard that a tiny little spark can ignite a mighty glowing flame. So when the clocks fall back, we challenge you to keep your motivation burning fiery bright.
Check out these tips from our team on how to channel your inner spark in the dark:
Make a goal. "I put a goal race on the map for January or February and enlist a friend to train with me. Knowing that I've got someone counting on me to show up and woman up gets me out the door every time.” – Mary Winchester
Lock in your edge for the day. "There's something empowering about getting in a run before work…obstacles and drama at work can roll off your back because you've accomplished a lot before your coworkers even woke up." – Wendy Hetherington
Find a date. "Even if I'm doing a different workout, I try to meet up with someone for the warm up, or for the second half, so I get out the door on time. If you don't have a friend to meet find a virtual friend - shoot them a text as you head out the door to wish them a good workout and then check back in after.” – Mindy Morain
Prep your outfit. "I change into my running gear before I leave the office. I'm less likely to skip my run if I'm already dressed for it when I get home.” – Dodie Mercer
Gear up. "I love buying super cool reflective gear and lights. It's double motivation: they look freaking awesome and you gotta get out there and use em' to get your money's worth.” – Jennifer Stack
Above all, stay safe! Dusk is my sweet spot running time. Right near the end of the workday, I hit my favorite loop. The sidewalk situation is non-existent in certain parts, so I make sure to wear bold, bright, reflective colors so I can be spotted as the sun goes down… the stars come out.
Some flystyle faves to keep it lit out there:
SHINE ON
THE REFLECTIVITY FACTOR
GO BIG. GO BRIGHT!
Show us how you illuminate the night. Snap a pic and add tag: #sparkinthedark
Clean Sport Collective
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The Clean Sport Collective wants to raise awareness and positivity through the celebration and recognition of the clean athletes, events, industry and brands doing it the right way. Their mission is “United together for honesty, integrity and transparency in sport.
OUR PLEDGE
We pledge to support clean sport by sponsoring athletes who are committed to training, racing and living clean, and not sponsoring athletes who have tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. Working with individuals or teams who choose to not play by the rules steals from hard working athletes that chose to do the right thing and challenges the health and integrity of sport. We understand and appreciate our corporate responsibility and through our influence we will create positive change through promoting clean athletes and teams. We pledge to create positive change by supporting athletes who are committed to clean sport.
STAND WITH US
Go to cleansport.org, sign your charter pledge, donate and stand with us in unity for Clean Sport. Then, show us your pledge and tag four people. Together, we are the collective change. Use the hashtag #cleansportco, tag @cleansportco, and @oiselle too!
Get a "Runner Against Doping" tee (seen above). Be #RAD.
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The Hips Don't Lie
But they can be deceptive. At least they were for me when I first started Oiselle - and was just a wee designer in training. I still saw the body as a series of logical lines and measurements…hips, inseam, rise, waist. Check, check, check. And that somehow the sum of the angles and numbers would produce the ideal garment. And thus many of my early creations had more 90 degree angles than I care to admit.
Today I have a newfound love of designing for the female form based on the very fact that it is completely void of right angles. Case in point: hips. I mean, I know I'm nerding out here, but can you really look at hips and not ponder how incredible they are?! The center of power, the locus of control, the defining shape of womanhood, and the cradle of life. (Don't worry bros, you have them too. As Jimmy Buffet said, "Elvis was the only man who could shake his hips and still be loved by rednecks, cops, and hippies.")
Bottom line, we design for the amazingness of your hips -- and the critical role they play in your running. Our Wing Waistband is the culmination of that. Not a right angle in sight…it dips subtly in the front and back to follow the shape of your body, rising slightly to hug the upper part of the hip bones, and mirroring that shape where it attaches to the legs to complement the curve of your thigh. The pocket (1 or 2 zip pockets depending on the style) top it off - as your hips are ALSO the best area to store any object you might run with. Our pockets are big enough for an iPhone and subtle enough to be invisible when not in use.
We hope every time you wear the Wing Waistband you feel the hug. It is design love from us to you!
See the latest Wing Waistband styles: Go Joggings, Jogging Knickers, Window Tights, Window Knickers, Moto Tights, KC Tights, KC Knickers, Black Widow Tights, Black Widow Knickers, Pleat Tights, Pleat Knickers,
Head up, wing waistbands out!
Straight Scoop: Wazzie Wool Base Layer
Style
style-story
If there is one reason I get excited for Fall, it is breaking out the Wazzie Wool. Wazzie Wool is 93% Merino Wool and 7% spandex which means it keeps you warm, but at the same time wicks sweat away. Not hot boxing myself in my long sleeve is a very big deal. Trying to find a long sleeve that is fitted, but not constricting, let’s the steam and sweat off but keeps your core temperature right in the sweet spot, is really hard to do but the Wazzie Wool base layer nails it. Also, and I am sure all the tall/long torso’d ladies can agree, finding a long sleeve that fits both ways (length and width) can be downright impossible. But the Wazzie Wool fits my incredibly long torso (without being way too long for my shorter birds!) and stays put. In essence, I pretty much want it to be cold all the time just so I can wear it.
This base layer is great for crushing a cold early morning run. It would also work great for skiing/snowboarding/mountain activities. I also think the simply straight forward design is good to go to the street. It is a great layering piece under a Vim or Vigor, or after the run under a nice puffy vest! The only time I shy away from the Wazzie Wool is in the pouring rain. It still works great but the wool also tends to take on water and might be down to your knees by the end of your run. So if you do wear it in the rain, make sure you are rocking a good top layer!
When I put it on, I feel absolutely ready to take on the elements. In fact, I think I need to go order it in every color.
XO
Introducing The Flyway – A Series On Change
“What a lark! What a plunge!” - Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway
As runners, we are fluent in the formation of goals. Measured by where we are today. Motivated by where we could go tomorrow.
These two destinations, the here of now, and the there of tomorrow, occupy a great deal of our time, daydreams, and conversation. In running, and often, in our broader lives. It’s easy to forget the journey from here to there is a place in and of itself. The transition is a destination. A place we call change.
There’s a reason why we avoid it. That treacherous valley between today and tomorrow. It’s hard.
In running, change is characterized by discomfort. The difficulty of a faster pace, longer miles, more frequent sessions. Of rebuilding a base we lost with injury. Or laying down the foundation for a new place we have yet to reach. In our broader lives, change is equally uncomfortable. Often signaled by the discomfort of loss, unfamiliarity, and inexperience. Of being thrown into a place without a map or a guide. Or wading through uncertainty toward a future that might be unclear.
No wonder this space in between sees so little air time. It’s the part of our own personal narrative where we’re not sure if the protagonist is going to make it out alive.
But what a lark! What a plunge! While change is uncomfortable, it is also vehicle. Progress is change. So is growth. As is learning, and adaptation. Change can make us stronger. Change can make us more compassionate. Like a muscle being stressed, it can ultimately improve our resilience, and elasticity in life. Change can be a grand migration. Change can be a platform to take flight.
The Flyway is a series of essays from our community about their experiences navigating change — the pains, pursuit, and the process of metamorphosis. As well as the places those migrations take us. Both running as a comforting constant amidst change in life, and running itself as the foundation in flux.
We hope these essays help you feel camaraderie amongst the chaos, draw corollaries between the author's experiences and your own, and maybe even help you enjoy the journey along the way.
Because to run is to change. It is to subject yourself to metamorphosis - in that moment, and across those moments. It is to commit yourself today to what you could be tomorrow, and to throw yourself willingly into the valley of discomfort on the way. And if our feathered friends have taught us anything about migration – it’s that these challenging journeys are best navigated together.
So stay tuned fierce flyers, and in the meantime, remember to enjoy your journey, even when the air up there's a little thin.
Head Up, Wings Out.
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